Photo: BMW Battery site - assembly
BMW Group has officially opened its new Irlbach-Straßkirchen plant in Bavaria and started series production of its sixth-generation high-voltage batteries. The new facility will initially supply BMW’s Munich plant with battery packs for the new BMW i3 and is set to become a central element of the company’s German electric-mobility production network.
Around €1 billion has been invested in the site. According to BMW, the plant will act as a central platform supplying German vehicle plants with Gen6 high-voltage batteries. Production is already operating in two shifts as the company accelerates the ramp-up of its Neue Klasse models.
“For our technological competitiveness, for electromobility – and for Germany as a business location,” said Raymond Wittmann, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Production, describing the significance of the new plant. Wittmann added that BMW remains convinced that successful industrial production in Germany will continue to be possible, provided that the framework conditions remain reliable and competitive.
The plant also demonstrates how quickly new battery technology can be transferred into industrial-scale production. Construction began in April 2024, while the first pre-series battery was produced less than two years later, in March 2026. BMW points to close cooperation with regional partners and authorities as well as digital planning and management tools as important factors behind the rapid implementation.
At the centre of the new facility is BMW’s fundamentally redesigned Gen6 battery technology. The system uses cylindrical cells that are integrated directly into the high-voltage battery according to the cell-to-pack principle. The battery itself becomes part of the vehicle structure through BMW’s “pack-to-open-body” concept.
Digitalisation and artificial intelligence play a particularly important role in production. More than 3,500 data points are collected and monitored for every battery. AI assistants and agents analyse the production data, while around 500 robots operate across approximately 50,000 square metres of production space. BMW says the combination is designed to support zero-defect battery production while also improving Overall Equipment Effectiveness.
The technology is closely linked to the performance of BMW’s Neue Klasse vehicles. The new BMW i3 50 xDrive uses a 108.7 kWh high-voltage battery and is specified with a WLTP range of up to 906 kilometres. Its 800-volt architecture enables DC charging at up to 400 kW. Under the specified test conditions, up to 423 kilometres of additional range can be charged within ten minutes. The vehicle also supports bidirectional charging.
Sustainability and resource efficiency are also integrated into the battery production concept. The Irlbach-Straßkirchen plant does not require fossil fuels for regular operation. Part of its electricity is generated by an on-site photovoltaic system, while the remaining electricity comes entirely from renewable sources.
BMW also uses secondary materials for part of the cobalt, lithium and nickel contained in the Gen6 battery cells. According to the company, CO2e emissions per watt-hour have been reduced by around 33 percent compared with the previous Gen5 cell generation.
The new factory is part of a broader Bavarian battery network covering almost the entire battery value chain. Research and development, pilot production, series manufacturing and recycling are connected through BMW facilities in Munich, Parsdorf, Hallbergmoos, Salching and now Irlbach-Straßkirchen.
At the Cell Recycling Competence Center in Salching, valuable raw materials from battery-cell production and complete battery cells can be recovered through BMW’s direct recycling process and returned to the production cycle without energy-intensive chemical or thermal processing.
BMW’s expansion of Gen6 battery production demonstrates once again how central battery technology has become to the industrialisation of electric mobility.
Battery Technology & AI is therefore also one of the core topics of eMove360° Europe 2026. Experts from battery development, materials, production, artificial intelligence and electric mobility will discuss the technologies and strategies shaping the next generation of electric vehicles.
eMove360° Europe 2026 takes place on October 13–14 in Munich.
👉 Discover the agenda and secure your conference ticket:
https://www.emove360.com/
Photo: BMW Battery site view
Photo: BMW Battery site
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